


Evaporation (Condensation)

by godofwine



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 01:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godofwine/pseuds/godofwine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Water moves faster than we can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Evaporation (Condensation)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to wonderful stephaniepenguin for the beta!

*

Billy is at home in the water in a way that makes Dom stare too long at shadows underneath the ocean's surface. Billy could be the passing flash of green or silver or brown, and while he is none of these, what matters is that he could be.

But when Dom thinks of Billy, Dom thinks of overgrown meadows and cool grass that itches slightly against his skin. It is the untamed Scotland wilderness that runs through Billy’s veins, like rivers.

It is the scent of trees in Billy's hair. It is the feel of sun across Billy's back.

"Beautiful day today."

"The surf's a bit rough though."

Dom feels the shift of sand as he speaks, a pillow of earth underneath his head that responds to each breathe he takes. In and out, grains tumbling away only to stop against the pile of Billy's creation. In a century, there would be Dom and Billy sized holes where they lay with a mountain between them.

They would have created it, together.

"I thought you liked it that way."

"Not when it's too rough to do anything."

Everywhere, there is warm and damp and _the world_. Dom thinks of growing old, coming home.

There is a layer of fine white powder that sticks to the moisture that their bodies have stolen, as though the sand, too, craved the beauty of another world.

"I can't believe we'll be going off to separate lives soon."

"We won't be that far apart."

The beaches here are curiously free of birds and people. They could be lost in a forgotten corner of the Earth, Dom likes to think, _with only sand and sea and you and me._

So easy to pretend with his eyes closed and the scent of seaweed on his tongue that there are no other homes and obligations expecting their return. There would be no geography, counting kilometres and imaginary lines across the globe on Billy's bookshelf.

They would be happy, untethered.

"There'll be an ocean between us, an ocean and a continent."

"That's what telephones and modern technology are for."

"It won't be the same."

"I guess not."

When Dom turns to Billy, they are both thinking of the waves nearby.

It is not the land that they will miss most; it is the water.

*

The clouds steal the last of the New Zealand sun, and Dom wakes to pitter patter of raindrops against wood.

On overcast afternoons, Billy is a monochrome shadow against grey lighting though his lips retain the warmth of gold. They're chapped like a sailor's, and for a moment, Dom presses harder to feel the current of blood underneath.

They are comfortable, pressed side to side, sharing air. Dom cannot remember a time without Billy's solid weight supporting him, falling together in a mess of limbs that never quite reach the floor.

Dom cannot imagine a time when the distance into Billy's space cannot be measured in centimetres.

Outside, a stream is forming in their backyard.

"Of course it would rain on our last day."

"Maybe it’s New Zealand saying goodbye."

The cascades of water across the window merge in dance, each tributaries of the ocean's song. Dom presses a sunburned arm against cool glass and thinks, _this is a liquid world._

He flicks dried sea salt from Billy's skin and feels the flesh underneath.

"We'll be back."

When Billy inhales, Dom hears the sound of waves and wind.

*


End file.
